Keep Counting
by Radioactive Lollipops
Summary: Neville goes through his 7th year with Luna and Ginny by his side, hoping he can survive it.
1. Arriving

Title: Keep Counting

Author: RadioactiveLollipops

Chapter: 1 - Arriving

Rating: PG-13 for now

Summary: Neville goes through his 7th year with Luna and Ginny by his side, hoping he can survive it.

Authors Note: Yes, yes, I know, everyone and their grandmother is doing this. But I don't care! Be warned now, I have quite the cynical mind. Therefore, in the next few chapters, you'll be seeing a lot of mature themed stuff. So if your into dark, creepy stuff, this is a good story to read. If your a nun, go away.

Enjoy:

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"Can't wait," Neville mumbled as his grandmother let go of him after apparating them to the outside of Kings Cross. His grandmother said nothing, instead she led them in.

"Keep your head down, Neville," his grandmother reminded him, as if she hadn't said it thousands of times before.

"Yes, gran," Neville said in a small voice, looking down at the ground, following his grandmother. He pushed the trolley until they were in the middle of the 9 and 10 mark.

"Go on," she whispered and Neville nodded. He felt almost afraid to leave her, fearing if he did, Death Eaters would pop up and grab her. But he did, anyway, to avoid being snapped at. He ran through the brick wall to appear in a very cold place. Usually, it was filled with warm goodbyes and excitement. It was just cold and depressing.

Neville would have stayed behind if he could, but if he did, he'd be registered as one of the students who didn't join in on the train and they'd look for him and his grandmother. And they had enough to worry about without him making things worse.

Just as his grandmother appeared out of the wall, Neville spotted Luna hugging her father and kissing him on the nose goodbye. He turned sadly after Luna boarded the train to look at his grandmother.

"Now," his grandmother grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, eyeing him closely, "if you get into the slightest trouble, you send me an owl and I'll be there in a second to take care of it. You look after your two little friends, what were their names?"

"Erm, Ginny and Luna?" Neville asked quietly and his grandmother nodded quickly.

"You look after them. I like them. Though they're quite the trouble makers, I've gathered. And as one of the few seventh years returning, you look after the younger ones as well, first years, second years..."

"I know, I will," Neville nodded, grimly.

"Good boy," his grandmother patted him on the cheek lightly, "you do have potential, you know. You've showed that over the past two years. Lets hope the shine doesn't fade."

"Right," Neville mumbled as his cheeks pinkened. It was a rare occasion when his grandmother complimented him.

"Try not to get into too much trouble," she warned before letting him bend down to hug her.

"I will," Neville lied. He knew he wouldn't be able to not get in trouble. He knew he wouldn't be able to try. He always got in trouble. When they pulled away, she eyed him, warily.

"You're lying," she said, blankly. Neville shifted on spot before she continued, "but it's fine. You can handle yourself, I've seen."

"Love you, gran," Neville wrapped up the conversation when someone shouted that there were two minutes left until it left.

"Love you," his grandmother mumbled just before Neville started to walk off and board the train. He walked down the corridors until he spotted Luna and Ginny in a compartment. He stared at Ginny through the window, curiously. She now had black hair and her freckles had disappeared. He decided it was because she was a well known blood traitor. He shrugged it off and entered the compartment.

"Hello Neville," Luna smiled and Neville waved half-heartedly.

"Good summer, Neville?" Ginny asked, bitterly.

"Not particularly," Neville shook his head as he sat down.

"Is he in here?" a voice sounded and they all looked towards the entrance of the compartment. The door slid open and half a dozen students squeezed in, "don' see him!"

"What're you talking about?" Ginny asked, angrily.

"Harry Potter aint here, folks!" Zacharias Smith announced.

"Bloody coward," another stated.

"Oh, right," Ginny spat, defensively, getting to her feet, "because _Harry Potter_--the main enemy of You-Know-Who that is--can come to a place publicly that's overrun by Death Eaters. Dear Merlin, are you dim?!"

"You'd think they'd gathered that much," Luna chimed in as three students piled out.

"Oh, so he's just left us here to be tortured by Death Eaters, then?" a Ravenclaw narrowed his eyes at Ginny.

"If I here another obnoxious word leave your mouth, I'll hex you into oblivion," Ginny threatened and the boy backed away. Finally, all the students that weren't there before had left. Neville sighed and closed the compartment door as Ginny sat down.

"That was quite rude," Luna observed serenely, looking at the ceiling on the train.

"Bloody gits," Ginny growled angrily as Neville sat down next to her, "they expect Harry to walk in like an idiot and get himself killed instantly? I mean, come on..."

"Yes, it was quite a close call at the wedding," Luna looked back at the two with wider eyes than normal.

"Oh, I read about that in the Quibbler," Neville commented, sitting up straighter, "what happened, exactly?"

"Oh, well, Kingsley sent a message that Scrimgeour was dead and everything went to hell." Ginny ran a hand through her red hair. "Harry, Ron, and Hermione disapparated immediately and mum pulled me into the house before I could see what happened."

"Yes," Luna nodded, hugging the newest addition of the Quibbler to her chest, "I don't know how to apparate, and I'd gotten lost from daddy, so I got a good look at things." Neville leaned in towards Luna curiously. "Almost all the Death Eaters had come, minus He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Kingsley and the rest of the Order appeared and it was a huge mess."

"Yeah, dad told me Tonks nearly got hit with the killing curse," Ginny shuddered.

"Remus got stunned, too." Luna fidgeted with her magazine before continuing. "That was all I saw before daddy and I found each other and disapparated."

Neville sighed heavily before leaning back, "I'm sorry I wasn't there. But Gran gave one of the Death Eaters a reason to watch over her, so we couldn't go."

"Don't be sorry," Ginny rolled her eyes, "be glad you weren't there."

From then on, all was pretty quiet, the three barely spoke a word besides Luna talking about Moon Frogs for a brief moment.

"Ah!" Ginny shouted as she stumbled out of her seat due to the train stopping, though Neville had a firm grip on his seat. "What's happened?"

"We've stopped," Luna observed, peaking out the window.

"Everyone out of their compartments!" A loud voice yelled and the three looked at each other.

"Death Eaters?" Neville asked, quietly.

"NOW!" The voice yelled, again when no one came out.

"Probably," Ginny slid open the compartment door just as everyone else did and they slowly filed out. A masked Death Eater checked the compartments to make sure everyone was out.

"Mudbloods on the train!" One of the Slytherins shouted for everyone to hear from the front of the train.

"Oh, no," Ginny whispered as she, Luna, and Neville stayed tightly together, "who do you think? I hope it's not Dean.."

"No, Dean wouldn't be dim enough to come to Hogwarts now," Luna reassured just as Neville shouted.

"Terry!" Neville pointed at the Death Eater dragging Terry Boot out by the arm from a compartment. Just as Ginny was getting out her wand, one of Terry's friends managed to throw a hex at the Death Eater. He fell to the ground and his mask slid off, bringing Terry down with him.

"Oi! Rowle!" Ginny yelled angrily, pointing her wand at him. Ginny was shot into Luna and Neville after Rowle's companion shot a blasting hex at her. Before anything else could happen, the two Death Eaters stormed out of the train, dragging Terry by the hood of his robes after placing a body-binding curse on him.

"Bastards..." Neville mumbled, making Ginny look at him in surprise. It was quickly brushed off by anger.

"Lupin-Lupin told me Thorfinn Rowle was one of the Death Eaters at the little place Harry, Hermione, and Ron disapparated to!" Ginny was pulled back into the compartment by Luna and Neville before she continued. "Him and Gibbons...Merlin, I hope Terry's alright..."

"I hope so, too," Luna sighed, looking straight at Neville and Ginny, "father visited the Ministry once over the summer and I'd gone with him, and I saw them interrogating an old Muggle-born woman. It was quite brutal. A little while later she was being taken by Dementors, screaming."

"Oh," Ginny shuddered, involunteerily.

"It was quite horrifying." Luna looked up at the ceiling again. "The top of the train is completely covered in Wagglits...They're supposed to protect you from dark forces. I wonder why they didn't work."

About a half an hour of silence passed after Luna's outburst before the train had finally stopped again---at the carriages this time. All three of the children looked at each other before Ginny piped up.

"Well..." she started, slowly, "we might as well go..."


	2. Hogwarts

Title: Keep Counting  
Author: RadioactiveLollipops  
Chapter: 2 - Hogwarts  
Rating: PG-13 for now  
Summary: Neville goes through his 7th year with Luna and Ginny by his side, hoping he can survive it.  
A/N: Sorry this took so long. It took me a week to finish it, and then along comes the stupid southern California fires and my powers goes out before I can save it. (Yes, I keep my computer on 24/7). I guess it's my fault, my teachers always tell me to save things every so often just in case. But GRRR. Why can't word be like firefox and let me start my session when it's abruptly stopped? Oh well...I got it done, though. Anyway: Thanks for all the feedback, I noticed the "Ginny's red hair" thing. I came up with the black hair idea late in the story, so I didn't check for red refrences. Too late to edit it though /:  
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Neville, Luna, and Ginny were the last to exit the train. As Neville stepped out, his grandmothers words rung in his head about how he was to look over Luna and Ginny. A feeling of protectiveness washed over him as he walked behind the two girls so he eyed them carefully. He caught a glimpse of a purple light shooting at them and robes start to wrap around them.

Just as he was about to yell, a body binding curse was wrapped around him as well, and he did his best not to fall over.

"What the hell is this?!" Ginny yelled, outrageously, "what've you done to us?!"

"Stupid children, stupid children," a masked Death Eater mumbled almost incoherently as he walked towards the trio. "Checking your blood status. Strict orders indeed. Start with you, mouth."

Neville watched as the Death Eater jabbed Ginny's side and ordered her to tell him her parents names. His eyes wondered to Luna and he just noticed an unmasked Death Eater hovering over her. He started to panic a bit as he realized he was whispering to her and her already-huge eyes were growing wider with each word.

"Get away from her!" Neville yelled, angrily, trying to reach for his wand. The Death Eater turned his head to look at Neville and he noticed him as AugustusRookwood. Rookwood smirked and stood up straight, slowly walking towards Neville. He was walking very dramatically, foot after foot, before he reached Neville.

"I'm terribly sorry," his voice was apologetic, but his smirk was off-beat. Neville eyed his angrily as he leaned down to get face-to-face with Neville, "was just telling your little girlfriend here..._just_ how much I _love _oddities."

"Don't go near her," Neville growled, dangerously. Rookwood stood up and laughed, coldly, then taking a long drag from his ciggar.

"Such a dangerous tone for such a stupid little boy," as he spoke, smoke puffed in Nevilles face. It took all he had not to scrunch up his face and cough, instead maintaining a mean look.

"When I get out of this--"

"Don't, Neville," he stopped abruptly at Luna's voice. It was no longer dreamy or serene, but it was shakey and something he thought was tinted with fright. It made his stomach drop. Rookwood laughed again and began to walk away.

"Parents," the man that was interrogating Ginny was now in front of Neville, jabbing his wand at his side.

"Frank and Alice Longbottom," Neville said, blankly. He wanted this to be over with. He just wanted to get to his dormitory, to his bed.

"Ha!" the Death Eaters voice was filled with sickening joy, "oh yes, yes. Enjoyed your mother, I did...screaming...the wiggling, oh the wiggling."

"Shut up!" Neville yelled in disgust at the inappropriate words that graced his ears, "shut up! I'll-I'll-"

"You'll-you'll?" the man mocked with a laugh, "very...very strict orders from Snape...keep all the pure-bloods...you go."

"Alrigh', you grab the thick one, I'll get the girls," Rookwood ordered as he headed towards Ginny and Luna.

"What about tha' one?" the Death Eater pointed at Luna.

"I know 'er, she's pure-blood," Rookwood grabbed the two girls arms.

"But I want the pretty girls! Why do you ge the little girls?" the man complained, causing Rookwood to throw him a glare. The man groaned and grabbed Nevilles arm with un-surprising force. Neville couldn't do anything but let the man drag him. When he was pushed into the carriage, he felt the curse being lifted off of him.

Neville took his time getting up, watching as Ginny was the first to scramble to her feet and reach for her wand.

"They're gone," Luna's dreamy voice had returned already and Neville felt a bit of relief wash over him.

"Gits," Ginny mumbled as she felt into her seat and the Thestrals started to trot down the dirt path. "That was ridiculous. Seriously, who cares about blood purity? God..."

Neville frowned as he sat down as well. He looked down and saw Luna sitting on the floor of the carriage.

"Luna, what're you doing?" Neville asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Hmm? Oh, I like it down here," Luna pulled out an issue of the Quibbler and rolled it open. She started to read it upside down before continuing, "I'm hungry. I hope theres pudding."

"With Snape as headmaster, I'm willing to bet the food is spiked with something," Ginny said, crossing her arms. The rest of the way was awkwardly silent, mainly due to the fact a few students behind them in a carriage were staring at them.

When the Thestrals stopped in front of the castle, Luna was the first to hope off and pat the Thestral on the head. He watched as a few 2nd years stayed in a tight group, looking scared to go into the Hogwarts.

It was ironic. Everyone was at least a little frightened to be entering the castle.

_No place safer than Hogwarts._

The trio stayed in the back of the students, behind the last to get into the Great Hall. After everyone was settled at their respective tables, Neville and Ginny making sure to be back-to-back with Luna, the male twin of the Carrows walked into the Great Halls with about 13 students. He stepped onto the stage with the Sorting Hat in his hand, and waved up the first student.

He didn't bother to conjure up a stool or announce their names. The first one was a pudgy little boy with brunette hair and a scared face. He stood before Alecto Carrow as he shoved the hat over his head.

Moments of grumbling from the hat passed before Alecto smacked the tip of it and the Hat glared at it with it's cloth eyes. Finally, it announced loudly, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table, along with a few others, cheered and clapped before Snape put a stop to it with his wand. The little boy sat down next to Ginny and Ginny attempted to give him a comforting smile. 12 more students were sorted, 8 in Slytherin, 1 in Hufflepuff, 2 in Ravenclaw, and one more in Gryffindor.

Alecto Carrow sat down and Snape stood up from his un-rightfully deserved Head Masters Chair. He walked towards the students and cleared his throat. He pushed his wand to his throat and began, "I would first like to announce our two new Professors, Amycus Carrow, who shall be teaching Muggle Studies, and Alecto Carrow, who shall be teaching the Dark Arts."

Ginny and Neville looked at each other as he told them "Dark Arts". Snape continued. "They will also be in charge of punishment. I would like to take time to remind everyone that the new rules at on the bulletin board in your Common Rooms. Read them carefully and obey them. And finally, the new head boy and girl."

This time, almost everyone perked up. A majority of the Gryffindors didn't, knowing there was no chance they were it. Snape pulled out a small scroll and two badges, then continued, "the new Head Boy will be Blaise Zabini and the Head Girl will be Daphne Greengrass."

"Oh, great," Ginny groaned, "that stupid Greengrass girl tried flirting with Harry last year. Whore," she said, bitterly as Zabini and Greengrass took their badges happily and walked back to the Slytherin tables. Snape tucked the scroll back in his robes, removed his wand, and gave it one wave before the food appeared before everyone.

As the food glittered onto the table, Ginny made a noise of disgust. Neville looked at her and saw a sneer on her face. "This just looked delicious, doesn't it?"

"Not hungry," Neville mumbled as he pushed away the plate. The food on the table looked as if it had been picked out of the garbage. Neville looked down the table and saw the two first years eyeing the food warily.

He felt bad. The first years wouldn't be able to enjoy their first feast like he had. Like Ginny had. Like Luna had. They wouldn't get Dumbledore as their head master, they wouldn't get a nice speech each year. They'd get fear and anguish and pain the whole year.

Neville stood up and Ginny joined him. Ginny tapped Luna on her shoulder and she looked at her quizzically, "Luna, you want us to walk with you to your common room?"

"I suppose," Luna nodded and stood up. The Ravenclaw table looked the same. The only table that looked like it usually did at the start of the year was the Slytherin table. Neville followed the two girls out and held open the doors just like his grandmother taught him to.

"So, Luna, do you have your schedule?" Ginny asked and Neville's stomach dropped.

It was then he realized they wouldn't have any classes together because the two were a year below him. His only real friends wouldn't be there with him at the Dark Arts classes or the Muggle Studies. He sighed inwardly as Ginny pointed out the classes they had together.

"I kind of wish I didn't pick up Muggle Studies this year now," groaned Ginny as Luna tucked away her schedule, "but dad insisted that I did..."

As the large Eagle door came into view, Neville spotted the kitchen portrait that was of a fruit bowl. He wasn't exactly hungry, but he decided to keep in mind that it was there. A few more steps and they stopped in front of the Eagle.

"This years going to be hell, isn't it?" Neville blurted out, making both Luna and Ginny start at him. Ginny started to frown while Luna smiled.

"Yes," Luna said, simply, "but it'll be alright."

"Will it?" Neville asked like a little boy. Ginny positioned her side by side with Luna.

"Yeah, cause we have each other. Which is the last cheesy line ever coming out of my mouth," Ginny told them and Neville chuckled a bit. Luna just nodded.

"Don't worry about it," Luna's serene voice comforted him, "until tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Night," Ginny waved as Luna stepped in front of the eagle. Neville and Ginny started to walk away as they heard the Eagle ask her, her question. "Hey, Neville, did you see Collin and Dennis on the train today?"

"No. They're muggle-borns," Neville explained as he stated to kick around a crumpled piece of paper.

"Oh...shame," Ginny asked, crossing her arms, "Colin and Luna were getting kind of close. Would've been nice to see Luna with someone, you know?"

"With? Colin?" Neville asked as they started up a set of stairs.

"Yeah. They were kind of flirty last year. Well, Collin was. You know Luna, she probably didn't notice."

"Collin and Luna? Nah," Neville rejected the idea immediately, crossing his arms, almost as a sign of his stubborn-ness.

"Is that a hint of jealousy, Mr. Longbottom?" Ginny teased as they approached the Fat Lady's Portrait.

"Jealousy? No-no. That's silly...nah," Neville shook his head as the Fat Lady asked for the password.

"Gumdrops," Ginny answered as the portrait swung open, "whatever you say, Neville."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neville asked as they climbed into the common room.

"Nothing, I'm tired. Goodnight, Neville," Ginny said, quickly starting up the girls dormitory stairs.

"What?" Neville asked, sub-consciously following her. The stairs reacted immediately, turning into a slide and forcing Neville onto the floor.

"Nothing! Goodnight!" Ginny giggled and shut the door. Neville was silently thankful everyone was still at the feast.

"Goodnight," Neville mumbled as he stood up, "confusing..."  
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A/N: I must admit, I got the Rookwood/Luna idea from VikingCarrots Rookwood/Luna picture. It inspired me so )) so yeah, check out her site.


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